Aftershocks hampered the efforts of rescue workers in central Italy today as they continue to search for survivors amid the rubble of the earthquake that struck on Monday.

One tremor - measured by the US Geological Survey at magnitude 5.2 – hit the region at 2.53am and was felt as far away as Rome. There were no reports of any additional victims.

Meanwhile, the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, created fresh controversy yesterday after declaring that people made homeless by Monday's earthquake should think of themselves as being on a "camping weekend".

His remark emerged on a day the death toll rose to 272 as more bodies were pulled from the rubble and efforts continued to locate 15 people who are still missing. One firefighter from Pescara on the Adriatic coast, who came to help with rescue efforts, collapsed in tears after finding the body of his stepdaughter, who was studying in L'Aquila.

A mass state funeral for the victims and a national day of mourning are due to be held tomorrow.

The pope prayed for the victims and said he would visit the disaster zone soon.

Berlusconi, who was spending his third day in the area, announced a tough new law against looting as civil defence officials warned that looters "from several parts of Italy" had broken into abandoned houses on the outskirts of L'Aquila. Patrols organised by police and rescue workers have so far only been carried out in the town centre.

L'Aquila prison was evacuated following a strong aftershock on Tuesday night. The inmates, including some 80 high-security members of the mafia and terrorists, were transferred to other jails.

Berlusconi said the number of the newly homeless residents was higher than previously announced - 28,000, of whom 17,000 were in campsites like the one where he made his remark while speaking to a German television crew.

He said the survivors "lack nothing. They have medicaments. They have hot food. They have shelter for the night".

He added: "Of course, their current accommodation is a bit temporary, but they should view it like a camping weekend."

At Bazzano, outside L'Aquila, reactions ranged from irritation to understanding. But it was left to a radical opponent of the prime minister to express outrage.

Rina Gagliardi, a former senator of the Communist Refoundation party, said: "He's a completely insensitive man who thinks wisecracks can solve every problem."

Luca Pesce, a 40-year-old technician who could see his family's house from the tent where he was staying with seven relatives, said Berlusconi had spoken as he did "because he hasn't lived through what we have".

On Monday night Pesce, his wife and their four-year-old daughter had slept in their car on a night of driving rain and hail in which the temperature fell to 4C. The tent in which they were now housed was sturdy, and the camp apparently well-organised.

Nearby, other camp-dwellers were carrying away appetising-looking plates of rigatoni alla carbonara, prepared by volunteers. "They know how to cook," said Mauro di Virgilio, a 51-year-old panel beater - or maybe ex-panel beater. His workshop in Bazzano had been wrecked by the earthquake. "The roof caved in," he said.

Giovanna Vietri, standing nearby, brushed aside criticism of Berlusconi's quip. "He was just trying to play things down," she said. The 47-year-old housewife had "every faith in Berlusconi". She said: "With other things, he's done what he said he would do. Look at how he cleared the garbage out of Naples."

Others were less certain. Cristina Fiordigigli from Paganica said: "In other similar situations, the politicians have said they would rebuild quickly, but it didn't happen. It's hard to believe in what they say."

One of Raffaella Tarquini's relatives was a victim of the Irpinia earthquake in 1979. "Almost 20 years later, he went to live in a house. He bought it with his own money," she said.